My soil is almost straight sand and does not hold moisture for very long. I water my bermuda daily and my zoysia every other day. I have also in the past used syringing on my bermuda and it had a very positive effect. I have not needed to do it this season since we have had decent rainfall. When I've had to work on irrigation, the roots of the bermuda are still well over 6 inches deep.

 

Mine is sand as well, but I think another curveball for me would be my soil moisture sensor. It is buried around 4" deep and it has been known to register moisture at that depth for up to 9 days after watering, so this approach to watering really makes it hard to tell what I should be doing.

I am surprised you are watering daily, you haven't had any issues with fungus? Do you still stick to 1" per week total?

 

Wanted to try this out for my Zoysia Palisades here in Fort Worth, my soil is like a brick once it gets hit with some 90+ degrees. My soil resembles caliche when dug up, almost grayish looking. I am thinking to trying out 1 zone of every other day watering to see how it responds vs the other zones on a 2-day schedule.

 

That would be an interesting test, I couldn't do that for my yard because each zone overlaps the next zone for even watering coverage. I also wonder though if the age of the lawn is relevant. For example, a well established lawn that has been watered deeply and infrequently has established deep roots already, so watering light and frequent probably wouldn't make the roots turn around and go back to the surface.

A new lawn on the other hand, watered the same way from the start, might have some of the problems that we've always been told would occur from this approach. There never seems to be a straight answer when it comes from Nature.

 

Do you know the ET rate for your area and your system's precipitation rate? I looked up my location's ET rate and I know my system's efficiency and precipitation rate so for me, I switched to 4x/wk at 51 min per session because I need 1.37"/wk to overcome my current ET rate.

My lawn reno is new so I figure I will split the difference and let it dry out a bit between sessions but not as dry as I had originally intended based on this study's findings.

 

Yes, I use Texas A&M ET website to see ET rate going for the past 5-7 days. I do the same as you and adjust my system to out pace the ET rate.

 

Is that 1.37” the reference ET from the national weather service? Don’t forget that you have to multiply that by a factor that is specific to the crop you’re watering. 70% is usually a good average for grasses, and some warm season grasses are more like 60% from what I’ve read. You may have already done that, but I just wanted to throw it out there in case anyone wants to use ET to estimate their irrigation needs.

 

Thank you, I am using a local university's data, I will need to apply the 60% offset for warm season grasses.

 

Maybe it's clay soil vs sand, but I've had the opposite. I can get a quick green up if I water, but I find that taking the time and patience to let the yard go into a little bit of water stress every time slowly "trained" the yard to be more drought tolerant. I actually did not have to irrigate this year at all until August. As long as I get a decent rain once every ten days, the drought stress is minimal. My yard is probably not as thick as some on here for it, but it can take a beating.

When I lived in phoenix, daily was necessary, but that was more a syringe int he afternoon for cooling than actual watering

 

I think that speaks towards one of my questions which was does watering more frequently make the roots shallower and more dependent on that frequent water.

 

I am a member of Dr Shaddox channel and he actually has gone over several papers and many episodes discussing the light and frequent vs deep and infrequent which all resulted in better quality turf using the light and frequent method ... in every type of turf. Item of note, the amount per week is the same, just broken up into smaller chucks. He is still pretty shocked himself.

 

light and frequent vs deep and infrequent which all resulted in better quality turf using the light and frequent method ... in every type of turf.

I tried that in my SA. All I got is more GLS.
I will stick to deep and infrequent for SA.

 

He's been going over watering all summer. There are multiple lives covering many different grass types and all of the studies have concluded that less volume and more frequent waterings produces better turf. I would watch/listen to them all if you can as they are very interesting. You can find them in podcast form as well.

Turfgrass Epistemology - YouTube

 

Daily works well for me during dry periods. It seems to help with some localized trouble spots, and hot spots along my privacy fence. Otherwise I have the irrigation turned off until I see indicators of dryness.

 

Here in the N.E., drought for the last month or more, to keep it green, every other day for about 20 minutes each zone in morning.... Hand watering uncovered spots and backyard... Real pain either way, especially the wallet...

 

I too have switched to light and frequent watering since listening to these podcasts. My tall fescue used to be watered every 3rd day at .50”. Now for about a month I have been every other day at .2” per watering. My lawn went from acceptable to above that with more noticeable top growth. Weed pressure, mostly clover, has liked it as well so I have been pulling more weeds weekly, not a big deal for me. I have also had to mow more often at least 2 to 3 days a week at the 3” mark.

 

Came across a pretty fascinating video from Dr Shaddox regarding a study where watering more frequently led to healthier grass. We've always been told watering more frequently leads to shallower roots, less pest resistance, etc., this study seems to dispute some of that.

There also seem to be many things missing from the study that left more questions than answers for me.

• The study did not include Bermuda grass
• It did not address issues like was fungus more prevalent or would watering only in the morning be sufficient to prevent it
• Was the grass more susceptible to diseases
• Would this make it more susceptible to frost damage if the roots aren't as deep
• Did the increased weed pressure outweigh the benefits of healthier grass

I am a bit conflicted now on if I should water 4x/wk at 0.25" per session or stick with twice a week at 0.5" per session. Of course, from a visual aspect, the grass always looks healthier and greener after getting water, but that doesn't mean the downsides don't outweigh the benefits.

Water restrictions are down to 1 day a week and its never going to get better here.
Im waiting for the turf ban . lol
Tuesdays 12am -10am , 5pm-1130pm
I get down just over 3/4” in that time frame

 

Interesting conversation. I have wondered since my lawn always seems happier after a week of drizzle than once weekly watering. I just assumed the rain was magic. But maybe its something else

 

It is magic!

I can water like crazy but nothing gives a result like rain.

I tried deep an infrequent but it didn't work for me last year, I'm trying frequent and light this year.

Yet, with little to no rain, results are sub par.

 

Definitely a thing. It’s called atmospheric deposition. It’s tracked through weather stations and published for all to see and use. I believe it is through the USGS. I will post a link to the portal when I get to my computer.

Okay, so below are the links.

Travis Shaddox on navigating NAPD data

National Atmospheric Depositional Program

 

Pretty neat! Love it when country-boy logic turns out true!

 

It’s part of the Nitrogen Cycle, one of the many ways Nitrogen is returned to the soil. Here’s an elementary school diagram showing other examples:

 

I've already tested this on my Zeon zoysia and my lawn is 100% better with frequent, lighter watering over the deep but infrequent watering. I tried for a few years to adhere to the advice we all constantly hear about watering deeply and infrequently to promote good root depth and drought tolerance but I just wasn't seeing good results in the summer. I decided last year to change my approach and it's so much better.

Caveat to this is that I'm in DFW and have mostly hard, clay soil. Also have an issue with some serious rock underneath some portions of the lawn. Those 2 things combined mean it's basically pointless to try and water deeply because there just isn't enough soil depth for that to happen. A lot of it will end up as runoff.

I think the area of the country you live in and your soil type can really play a huge role here. In the deep south in the middle of summer, it's pretty hard to water only twice a week and have your lawn look good through all 7 days.

The experts can continue to push for deep, infrequent waterings but I've seen the results of doing the opposite. I think the advice the experts are giving needs to change for the vast majority of us.

I can tell you right now..... There is NO way my lawn would look this good in the heat of summer if I watered deeply only a couple times a week.

 

I’m in dfw also, and since the cooler weather started I’ve pushed watering to every 6-7 days. With the heat we had a few weeks ago I was down to three days or 1.5” per week

 

Everything with lawns is a balance... you are dealing with nature and whilst science and studies can be very helpful at times, there are so many variables and qualifications to be made that you can get caught up with mostly irrelevant studies and overthink these things.

My thoughts are that observation/ personal experience with your lawn in your locale and common sense should prevail.
Once a lawn is established, a combination of deep and shallow waterings are necessary...shallow watering means you use less water and nutrients remain in the profile for longer, ( more important in sand) but have to irrigate more often in the warmer months. Shallow watering means the plant does not have to work as hard, competing against gravity and air pressure to lift and extract moisture from the profile. This means that generally speaking, the plant should be healthier, having to work less.
We all know that Deep water encourages deep roots for those dry times, especially with bermudas where I have seen rhizomes down at 4 feet many, many times. However, Irrigation water moving past the principal root zone is wasted water as gravity continues to pull it along with various nutrients downwards.
Various Fungal diseases are only relevant at certain temps and more so with some specialist varieties so you should be able to ascertain that and manage accordingly. Thatch build up and heavy nitrogen use will be contributing factors as well.
With frost, I cannot imagine the level of frost damage being dependent on root depth....Frost is the freezing of the moisture in the leaves, rupturing the cells.... if your soil is not being frozen then there is no issue with roots...Recovery from frost will obviously be quicker on an established, well maintained, healthy lawn but with bermuda, its so tough, that frost should never be an issue (other than short term visually). High nitrogen levels will make for softer weaker leaves with higher moisture levels that will be more susceptible to frost damage. Lower mowing will potentially lower the overnight soil temps, as there is less buffering against the cold night air. Lower soil temps equals slower recovery.
Regarding weeds, a thick healthy lawn should remain close to 100% weed free all the time, however if you are mowing very low, then you are providing more opportunity for new weed to germinate and establish... at the same time the increased mowing frequency necessary for low mowed lawns will take out most weed as it germinates/early stages of development meaning only the weeds with the very lowest profiles/height tolerance are likely to establish. Constant moisture in the upper profile will also encourage germination and potential fungal issues.
Weeds in Bermuda are so easily controlled these days, that IMO, it really shouldn't be a concerning factor.

Just my thoughts..
Cheers.

 

Just curious, but how long would be considered "established?" I put down Tahoma 31 sod roughly 2 months ago. I have been pushing deep and infrequent to train the roots, however I notice if I don't wanted it frequently I'm stressing it out still

 

I would consider" established" to mean at least one full growing season.. a lawn with a fully established root system may actually take a couple of seasons to achieve...the fact that the grass is stressing indicates the root development is lacking/immature and there could be any number of reasons why that is so..

 

@CoachTooz @Stevo Is stressing necessarily a bad thing though? Training in pretty much anything is more stressful than doing nothing because it is meant to be uncomfortable, but the end result is typically an improvement in some area. Working out is a good example, it's not comfortable but the end result is better health.

So, I think the main remaining question for me is shouldn't we stress the lawn while it is getting established? By letting it dry out with deeper infrequent watering isn't the signs of stress actually just signs the grass is having to make the uncomfortable decision to go deeper into the soil in search of moisture...thereby establishing a more resilient root system? As the old saying goes, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

I think we all agree that lighter more frequent watering makes for a healthier lawn after it is established; but I don't think we have a good answer on if we should deliberately stress it while it is getting established to make it stronger.

 

With so many variables, nearly every site, and situation, is unique. You experiment, and at the end of the day you practice whatever gives you the best result. Deep and infrequent may be better in some situations, while shallower and frequent better in others.

 

May I ask for help in trying this? I have Rachio controller, live in Phoenix, have Bob Sod Bermuda. Been running 7" for depth a few years. Lawn is pretty good looking but I've always wondered why it doesn't look great like other hybrid Bermudas. I don't want to derail the thread with all of the possible reasons, and to remain on topic, I'm just asking for help to water more frequently.

So I had it set up so it watered about every 3 days with the 7-in root depth setting. I was thinking I would just switch to 3-in root depth to get it to water more frequently but the same amount of overall gallons of water per week. Does that make sense? I guess in other words, from my understanding changing the root depth doesn't change overall gallons of water per week but frequency.

 

Came across a pretty fascinating video from Dr Shaddox regarding a study where watering more frequently led to healthier grass. We've always been told watering more frequently leads to shallower roots, less pest resistance, etc., this study seems to dispute some of that.

There also seem to be many things missing from the study that left more questions than answers for me.

• The study did not include Bermuda grass
• It did not address issues like was fungus more prevalent or would watering only in the morning be sufficient to prevent it
• Was the grass more susceptible to diseases
• Would this make it more susceptible to frost damage if the roots aren't as deep
• Did the increased weed pressure outweigh the benefits of healthier grass

I am a bit conflicted now on if I should water 4x/wk at 0.25" per session or stick with twice a week at 0.5" per session. Of course, from a visual aspect, the grass always looks healthier and greener after getting water, but that doesn't mean the downsides don't outweigh the benefits.

 

Watering in a shallow manner will do several things: Increase watering amounts (as you evaporate water out of the soil when it is near the surface where the heat is), aggravate thatch and contract Aschochyta. Increase soil porosity, build humus in the soil and you can infiltrate more water and keep it there. I water about once every 10 days and I can keep a lawn with little stress.

Read my blog about this:
You are being lied to about your watering… | Blade to Blade


My front lawn:


I maintain the soil at 25%-30% 6-8" down.

 

Watering in a shallow manner will do several things: Increase watering amounts (as you evaporate water out of the soil when it is near the surface where the heat is), aggravate thatch and contract Aschochyta. Increase soil porosity, build humus in the soil and you can infiltrate more water and keep it there. I water about once every 10 days and I can keep a lawn with little stress.

I disagree with most of this. Where are you located? That photo looks like a patchwork of KBG and TTTF (ugly). Soil porosity is not an issue here; keeping the moisture is the issue. Every 10 days might work for your location and soil but I would have dirt and weeds if I tried watering every 5 days, much less every 10 days. I've never heard of Aschochyta, so it's clearly not an issue either.

 

Good to meet you too. This is a Bluegrass lawn that is cut with a robotic mower. I cut it around 2". You don't have a porosity issue because you have sand, or a low CEC. If you increase the organic matter and more specifically you can hold more water, 650 per 1Kft for every 1% increase to be precise. Every ten days for my location doesn't work because it is so dry here and we have very poor soils. You have weeds because you have a mineral imbalance in your soil. Weeds are not random, they grow where there is a need to pull something or push something into the soil.

 

I water about once every 10 days and I can keep a lawn with little stress.

Every ten days for my location doesn't work because it is so dry here and we have very poor soils.

Is this an AI bot?

 

Sorry, I tried...

 

After watching this video, I transitioned form once a week at 1" per watering to 5 times a week with .2" per watering. My grass (Fescue) initially looked better, as I expected, however I was hit with a heavy round of fungus that I was nearly unable to recover from. Considering I'm growing cool season turf in the lower region of the transition zone, I don't think this is an effective strategy for my type of turf.